Author Archives: Adriane Herrick Juarez

Have you ever found yourself wishing there was one easy place to go with all of your questions about how to be a public library director? Many people come to positions of leadership in libraries with no formal training or a library degree.

So, where do you start? Whether you’re a current, new, or aspiring director there is a practical guide. On this show, I speak with Kate Hall, a library director since 2010, and Kathy Parker, with 16 years serving as a public library director. Together, they have given us the answers in their book, The Public Library Director’s Toolkit. This valuable resource provides one-stop-shopping for all of our questions about running a public library – from human resources to working with boards to overseeing a budget – it’s all here

Have you ever been in the position to market library events or services without ever having a course that taught you how? As libraries, we want to break through the noise of all the other messages that people see every day to share the word about all that we have to offer. Having a marketing mindset can create inroads to those we serve and ensure awareness about all we have to offer our communities.

On this show, I speak with Kathy Dempsey, author of the book The Accidental Library Marketer and former Chair of the Library Marketing and Communications Conference. She offers practical advice that will make you an astute marketer in no time.

How often in libraries do we ask ourselves how we can ensure that our services stay essential and sustainable in the communities we serve? These days, it may be more often than we like.

On today’s show, I speak with Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Executive Director at the Mid-Hudson Library System in New York and author of the book, Sustainable Thinking: Ensuring Your Library’s Future in an Uncertain World.

She presents globally on topics related to library sustainability and gives us essential guidance that helps us answer the question of how libraries can maintain our important roles in society.

In fact, the American Library Association finds this so essential that it has just adopted sustainability as a core value of librarianship.

What is toxic leadership and how does it play out in library settings? And why was I, as a podcast host and leader of a library, nervous to talk about this? Research shows that 65% of librarians have experienced toxic leadership in the workplace. In our “librarian-culture-of-nice” this is not always a comfortable topic.

Libraries are a positive force in our culture and should be in the workplace, as well. On this episode of Library Leadership Podcast, I talk with Dr. Alma Ortega, tenured librarian at the University of San Diego Copley Library and author of the book Academic Libraries and Toxic Leadership. She teaches us about the characteristics of organizational toxicity.

Learning about this often-sensitive subject helps us start a conversation in the library profession to inoculate our institutions against the pitfalls of toxic leadership.

We all want to feel positive and engaged in the workplace. However, have you ever wondered how you can actually wake up on Monday morning excited to go to work, as well as foster this same excitement in those around you? On today’s podcast, we talk with Fatima Doman author of the book Authentic Strengths.

She teaches us how we can create improved happiness and effectiveness in the workplace using positive psychology that capitalizes on our unique strengths. If we work in ways that utilize what we do best, we really can feel excitement about our jobs and appreciate the attributes that our colleagues bring to the table. Fatima shares a system to Explore, Empower, and Engage with our strengths to increase personal effectiveness and create success in our libraries.

Have you ever wanted to be an advocate for your library but weren’t sure where to start? Chances are you’re already doing it in ways you might not have realized.

On today’s show we talk with Lance Werner, Executive Director for Kent District Library, about the difference between formal and informal advocacy and how we all probably already do some this on a daily basis.

With the information on this episode we can all get better at building relationships, maintaining those, and finding ways to intersect our interests with those of decision-makers, and others, who can help us sustain and grow our libraries.

Have you ever wondered how you can handle the many disruptors in libraries that threaten our relevancy?

Today’s guest Ranny Lacanienta, Director of Product Management with SirsiDynix, walks us through the many changes that have taken place in libraries over the past decades.

He shares the importance of creating experiences in libraries as a way to engage patrons for lasting impact. Memorable experiences create ownership, encourage pride, and develop a sense of community. As people meet, convene, and share ideas in spaces that positively engage their senses – librarians develop a ‘product’ that will never become obsolete.

Have you ever experienced in your library parts of the community that are struggling with literacy or perhaps even kids who arrive too hungry to engage? These are just a couple examples of the kinds of things that we all know, as librarians, we can’t solve by ourselves.

It’s best if we work with communities to build coalitions to meet unique needs. On today’s show we talk with two guests who have a program that can help. It’s called Communities + Libraries and begins with the premise that each community has the potential to thrive and that libraries are ideal for helping communities come together to reach their full potential.

You’ll learn about this model that any of us can use to design programs with partners that work for a community’s particular needs. Tune in as we hear from Erica Freudenberger, Outreach Consultant with the Southern Adirondack Library System, and Margo Gustina, Trustee Development Consultant with the Southern Tier Library system, both in New York, about their work, developed by a team, called Communities + Libraries: A Community-First Process. Enjoy the show!

How can we increase staff engagement and commitment to positive patron outcomes? Learn about a management model that holds that our employees are our first, and most important, customers.

If everyone understands our organizational brand, mission, and objectives we can improve service and reduce organizational dysfunction. Marketing to staff may seem like a big job. But, it takes everyone to“shootfor the moon”, as you’ll learn on this show.

Have you ever thought to yourself that if you were only more organized you could be more productive? On today’s show Lisa Johnson an information professional in the school setting provides for us ideas from her book, Creatively Productive, to help tackle time wasters and clear clutter for success.

She shares the importance of having passion and purpose while using the best tools for calming the chaos – both for ourselves and for the information seekers in our organizations. Making sense of it all will be easy after you listen to this show.

Why We Burned Our First Leadership Book, or How to Develop a Leadership Path that Holds Personal Meaning

Presenter: Adriane Herrick Jaurez

Co-Presenter : Becca Lael – Park City Library

Utah Library Association Conference

Thursday, May 16, 1:30-2:20pm

Mountain America Expo Center

How can we develop a leadership path that holds personal meaning? Inspired by interviews from the Library Leadership Podcast, a variety of strategic insights will show us how everyone can improve their leadership to personally shape their workplace, the community they serve, and the trajectory of the library profession. Attendees will learn how one library manager’s leadership path was transformed to include personal meaning, resulting in braver development.

Commencement Speaker for the Graduation of the Utah State Regional Master of Library Science ProgramFriday, January 5, 7:00pm Viridian Event Center I will be giving a commencement speech for the graduating class of Cohort 12.

Utah State History Conference
October 10th– 11th, 2017 Rio Grande Depot, 300 S. Rio Grande Street, Salt Lake City, UT Honoring the Past, Moving Into the Future: The Renovation of the Historic Park City Library that Developed a Dynamic 21st Century Library while Achieving National Historic Register Designation.

Nevada/Mountain Plains Library Association Joint ConferenceOctober 16th – 18th, 2017 Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, 50 US-50, Stateline, NV89449
Lightning-round presentation on how The Park City Library recently underwent a $9.6M library renovation that included the creation of a media lab that included a sound booth, green screen, film equipment, and other high tech amenities to foster independent media production in a ‘film-centric’ mountain town that is accessible to everyone, not just movie producers.